Monday, January 24, 2011

Religious conversions are outdated

Your religion is dear to you as mine is to me. Neither should I denigrate your religion nor should you consider mine less than yours.

Every religion works for the "believer", it brings a balance within and builds an orderly society. Neither Muslims nor Christians are obligated to convert any one to their faith,

Once upon a time, conversions were sought to uniformize people, to have support for their personal (ill) intentions to dominate and control and fight their manufactured enemies. Today that will not work and should be out of our system. No two Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Jews.... agree on the issues, and then what is the need to convert?

People should have the free will to choose what they wear, eat, look, and believe. Let it be their personal choice a choice that gives them spiritual atonement.

Jesus said to go to every corner of the world and spread the good word and that word was for people to treat others as they wanted to be treated and some Christians took it in literal sense, just as some Muslim do. God sent a revelation to the Prophet, your role is to convey the messages of goodness and it is up to people to follow it, perhaps to concretize the free will, God chose to have Prophet's own uncle die without accepting the message of the prophet. There is a great wisdom in it.

Both Christians and Muslims agree that their religion makes a better human out of them, and precisely that is the goal of a religion, any religion, whether it they follow the book or the oral tradition. It is the insecurity in people that generates 'trickery" in them to protect their interests to have people tune into the same music, it was once, not any more. God has made us diverse with a unique thumb print, DNA, eye print and what not... Let's learn to respect and accept the God given uniqueness of each one of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.

There is no one version of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism or Buddhism. Even the smaller numbered religions like Judaism, Jainism, Sikhism or others do not agree on certain basics. In America, the Christians fight over Abortion rights.

Religion will not serve politics in the long haul, although the right wing in America and elsewhere have demonstrated that it can, but it will be temporary and will not last. People will return to the roots of goodness as Religion is about bringing humility and creating orderly societies and not ganging up on others. By the way no one can cast the first stone.

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer. He runs the Foundation for Pluralism championing the idea of co-existence through respecting and accepting the otherness of other and is committed to nurturing the pluralistic ideals embedded in Islam through the World Muslim Congress. Mike is available to speak on Pluralism, Islam, Civil Societies, and Peace & Justice at your place of worship, school, work place, seminars or conferences. He is a media commentator offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.

Dr. Ghouse has appeared in over 200 TV shows and is a frequent guest with Hannity and Varney shows at Fox News along with others. He has over 1000 hours of Radio Shows of which 700 were dedicated to interfaith and pluralism. Over 3000 articles have been published of which a 1000 were on politics, foreign policy, sports and movies, a 1000 for interfaith and pluralism matters and a 1000 plus on Islam. In addition Mike has conducted workshops on Atheist to Zoroastrian and every one in between.

INTRODUCTION

Mike Ghouse is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions to media and to the public on important and complex issues of the day and is available to speak in a variety of settings such as schools, seminars, conferences, and places of worship, or the work place.

Mike is a frequent guest on Fox News, (The Hannity Show), and has been interviewed on nationally syndicated Radio shows along with Dallas TV, Print and Radio networks and occasional interviews on NPR. He is a member of the Texas Faith panel of Dallas Morning News and writes on issues facing the nation every week. He has spoken at international forums including the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions, in Melbourne, Australia, Middle East Peace Initiative, in Jerusalem, the International Leadership conference, in Hawaii, and in Washington

The Foundation for Pluralism champions the idea of co-existence by respecting and accepting the otherness of those different from ourselves. The World Muslim Congress is committed to nurturing the pluralistic ideals embedded in Islam. Heavily involved in both, Mike Ghouse is committed to building cohesive societies and has produced outstanding public events to bring Americans together of different religions, ethnicities and races on common grounds of building a safe and secure America.

He is a speaker, thinker, collaborator and a writer on the subjects of Pluralism, the interfaith movement, cohesive societies, Islam, India, hope and world peace. Over 1000 articles of Mike’s have been published worldwide and two books are poised to be released this summer. His work is reflected in 4 websites and 27 Blogs indexed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/
C
oncerned by the divisiveness, he saw the need to bring Americans together and founded America Together Foundation committed to building a cohesive America, indeed it is in response to ACT America which is bent on pitching one American against the other. We will be holding series of educational programs, conferences and workshops to address the issues that divide us such as Civil Right, GLBT, Quraan, Abortion, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, Racial Profiling and Stereotyping.

The Annual Unity Day USA is in its 7th year now, it is a purposeful event to bring Americans together, on this Unity Day, we the people of the United States of America of every faith, race, ethnicity, culture and background will gather to express our commitment to co-existence, unity, prosperity and wellbeing of our nation.

Thanksgiving Celebration is in its 15th year showcasing cultural diversity.

The 5th Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides is to learn and to acknowledge and reflect upon the terrible things we have inflicted upon each other and commit to avert such tragedies. Through this event non-Jewish people have consciously learned about Holocaust for the first time, it was also for the first time that people of 14 faiths came together to join in to commemorate the Holocaust that commemorated within the Jewish Community for years. They are not alone anymore in their anguish, we are all in it together with them, and it is a Muslim initiative to effect a positive change.

The programs, seminars and workshops conducted by the Foundation for Pluralism have become a part of the America Together Foundation. While the Foundation for Pluralism continues championing the idea of co-existence through respecting and accepting the otherness of other, the commitment to nurturing the pluralistic ideals embedded in Islam through the World Muslim Congress continues.

Mike is a speaker, thinker, collaborator and a writer on the subjects of Pluralism, the Interfaith Movement, Cohesive Societies, Islam, India, Hope and World Peace. Over 1000 of his articles have been published worldwide and two books are poised to be released this summer. His work is reflected in 4 websites and 27 Blogs indexed at http://www.mikeghouse.net

To engage Mike in a dialogue, conference or a talk, write to Ghousespeaks@gmail.com and email dedicated for this purpose or you can call him on a short notice at 214.325.1916